Chapter 4

I’d forgotten to close the blinds, and the morning sun woke me too early. I couldn’t get back to sleep, even though I still felt tired. Eventually I forced myself out of bed and into a shower, which helped a little.

Over coffee and cereal my mother asked about my evening, about Karen, what we were going to do this summer -- the usual polite interrogation. I noticed that it seemed to have dialed back a notch from my high school days, when it was relentless. Or maybe she was just focused more on my sister, Mindy, who was now seriously involved in the dating scene.

Mindy’s involvement was not so much personal (though she had a boyfriend, Evan, or at least she did over Christmas), but more centered around discussing and analyzing the relationships of all her friends, of who might be angling to hook up with someone, and what the best prospects were. It reminded me of handicapping horse races, and she did it with the same intensity. I so did not miss high school.

I found the morning paper and scanned the classifieds, but I really didn’t see much in the way of summer job openings. I suppose I could go ask at Marco’s Fruit Market, where I’d worked one summer not long ago, and where I’d first learned Spanish. It wouldn’t pay much, if there was an opening, but I’d be pretty much guaranteed a job. They liked me there.

Or maybe I should try back at the college where I’d gotten some part-time translating work. Maybe the prof who I’d worked for could point me to someone looking for similar skills. I put it in the ‘possibles’ column.

I thought it was too bad that my new skills didn’t include a talent for convincing someone to hire me for a well-paid no-show job, like we used to see in the mob movies that were so popular.

I felt a little out-of-touch, since I’d been away for almost a year. I used to know all the places that we’d hung out as teenagers, and which places were busy and which ones were hiring, like that. But not so much anymore.

For want of a better plan, I thought I’d go to the mall and look around, see if there were any prospects. High schools were still in session for a couple more weeks, so this would be before the rush to look for summer work. Maybe I should type up a resume. I’d never needed one before, but now it felt like something I should be handing out. Ahh, maybe later.

I caught a bus, which ran not far from my house, and rode it to the mall. The mall, when it appeared in view, brought back a lot of memories. It was our go-to destination when we couldn’t figure out what to do. There was a movie theater, an arcade, some interesting stores, lots of small food shops and fast-food restaurants. It was a place to hang out, run into your friends, maybe meet some girls.

It was late morning on a school day when I got there, so not so many teenagers, but there were plenty of people moving about, running errands, looking at the sales, killing time. I wandered around making mental notes of places that might conceivably hire summer help.

I saw Karen’s uncle’s bookstore, where she’d be starting work tomorrow. What if I got a job there? Then Karen would be my boss. She’d like that, I bet, bossing me around. Maybe better to avoid that one.

After I’d made a full pass, I hadn’t lengthened my list by much. I should think about other places, away from the mall, that might be hiring.

My eye caught a restaurant/soda fountain made up to look like an old-fashioned ‘sweet shop’ from a previous time, dark wood, antique-y light fixtures, and I realized that I was hungry. Well, it was lunch time, so no wonder.

I had a few bucks left, so I thought I’d treat myself to a burger and maybe an ice-cream soda. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d had one of those.

It was surprisingly crowded. Perhaps not so much of a surprise, since it was lunch time, and there were no free tables. Anyway, I didn’t feel right about taking up a whole table during their busy period, so I found an empty seat at the fountain.

The busy waitress slapped down a napkin and a knife and fork, and poured me a cup of water. She snatched an order pad from her apron and, pen poised, looked at me expectantly. No wasted words here, not now.

“Um, cheeseburger, medium, with fries. And a chocolate ice-cream soda.” She scrawled on her pad and grunted, then turned toward the kitchen.

It was busy, and I saw that the staff were moving quickly, no wasted motion because there was no time for that. There was a mirror on the wall in front of me, and I amused myself by watching the people behind me.